A New Piece of Jewelry
by storry-eyed
Summary: The missing scene from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in which Hermione receives her Time Turner from McGonagall. Written for the Missing Moments Challenge on Hogwarts Online.


**A/N: **Written for the Missing Moments February challenge on Hogwarts Online. This is extremely old but I somehow never got around to posting it before now. This is the missing scene from _Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_ when Hermione gets the time turner from McGonagall. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any characters or any other part of Harry Potter's world, and I'm not making any money from this story.

* * *

><p>"<em>Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely."<em>

~ Rodin

* * *

><p>Hermione hurried with Harry and Professor McGonagall to her Head of House's office, worried sick about her best friend and completely confused. She could not figure out why they were going to her Head of House's office instead of the hospital wing, considering the fact that Harry had just collapsed from a dementor attack.<p>

When Madam Pomfrey finally showed up, Hermione felt a bit better – she had been planning on dragging him off to the Hospital Wing after this meeting, anyway – and she started to worry about what classes she would be able to take this year. She had heard from Professor McGonagall over the summer that she and Professor Dumbledore were working on figuring out a way for her to take all the classes for which she had signed up, but that was the last she had heard of it. She really wanted to take all of these classes, too – they all sounded fascinating. Even Divination, if it was taught by a good teacher, could be interesting. Although, now that Hermione thought about it, she didn't know who taught that class. She didn't think she'd ever seen anyone who might look like a Seer at any of the feasts or meals, or even walking around the school, which was strange, and –

"Miss Granger?"

Hermione jumped. Her mind had been wandering – not something that happened often in the presence of a teacher, but at least she wasn't in class. "You and Mr. Potter will be able to go on to the Welcome Feast in a minute, but first I need to speak with you alone."

"Is anything wrong, Professor?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"No," said McGonagall, a small smile gracing her face and making her look much younger. "I have some good news for you regarding your course schedule."

Hermione sat up eagerly. "I'd been wondering about that, but I didn't want to bother you over the holiday," she confessed, barely daring to hope as she waited to hear what her Head of House had to say.

Professor McGonagall pulled out her wand and waved it over a box on her desk, murmuring a few inaudible words as she did so. Then she opened the box and pulled out a long, thin gold chain, holding it up almost in distaste. Something small and gold dangled from the chain. Hermione leaned forward, trying to see what it was. It almost looked like… but surely that wasn't possible…

"I don't think they ever should have made these things in the first place," McGonagall muttered, and Hermione looked at her in surprise, temporarily distracted from the strange necklace. She had never heard her Head of House say anything like that before.

"If you don't mind me asking, Professor, why not?" Hermione inquired curiously.

"Messing with time, Miss Granger, can be a nasty business if one is not careful," McGonagall replied pointedly.

"Messing with – _oh!_" Hermione breathed in realization. "So that _is _what I thought it was!"

"And what is that, Miss Granger?"

"A Time Turner," she whispered almost reverently. "How did you ever manage to get one? I thought they were completely restricted and controlled by the Ministry of Magic."

Professor McGonagall's expression was a combination of annoyed and rueful. "It certainly wasn't easy, I'll tell you that. I wrote numerous letters to the Ministry and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, trying to convince them that if there was ever a student who should be allowed to use a Time Turner to take multiple, overlapping classes, it is you, Miss Granger." Hermione turned a very bright shade of red at her words; McGonagall rarely gave compliments at all, forget ones such as that.

"Even so, I thought for a few weeks that it was all going to fall through; Professor Dumbledore actually had to go in and speak with the head of Magical Law Enforcement – don't look like that, Miss Granger, it was no trouble and he completely agrees that you should be given this opportunity – and managed to convince her that you were a model student who could be trusted with such an artifact. Yes, artifact," she added upon seeing Hermione's confused expression. "Creating a device to change time is not a joke, Miss Granger. I have no idea how old this particular one is; it could be several hundred years at least. I do know that there are only nine of them in existence, including this one. I do not believe I need to tell you that if you damaged or lost it, the consequences would be horrendous."

Hermione shook her head so hard and fast that she felt dizzy. "No, Professor. That will never happen, I promise you."

"I trust you, Miss Granger," her Head of House replied. "However, although they are mostly common sense, there are a few rules you need to know. The first is the most important – no matter what it takes, no one can see you when you are traveling back in time. Absolutely _no one_; and that includes yourself. You do not want to find out what would happen if someone saw two of you – or if your past self happened to see your time-traveling self walking down a hallway. Deaths and worse have occurred when wizards made mistakes in the past."

Hermione nodded, eyes wide. She was starting wonder if this was a good idea after all.

"Secondly, you can tell no one what you are doing or how you are taking so many classes, not even Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley." Hermione nodded; that made sense. She could probably trust Harry, but he was already trying to deal with both dementors and Sirius Black on the loose, and it was very likely that Ron would slip up and tell someone, what with his temper. It would simply be easier to not tell either of them.

"Thirdly, you must promise that you will not use this Time Turner for anything except going to classes. Not for completing homework, not for visiting with friends, not even for getting more sleep. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Professor," Hermione said hesitantly. "I understand, but…"

"Don't worry, Miss Granger," her Head of House said, almost kindly. "I have the utmost confidence that you can handle both your course load and your relationships with friends and other students this year. In fact, I'm proud of you, and looking forward to seeing what you can achieve this year in all of your classes."

Hermione's worry disappeared as the warm glow of praise filled her. Suddenly, she was filled with excitement for the coming year and anticipation for the work she would be doing. "Professor, I can't thank you enough for doing this."

"It's no trouble, Miss Granger," McGonagall replied, another small smile on her face. "There are great things in store for you, anyone can see that." She stood, and Hermione followed her lead. "On your word, do you promise to follow the guidelines that have been set and to see me if you have any questions or concerns?"

"I promise," Hermione said, looking directly into her Head of House's eyes.

"Thank you. Now, I believe this is for you," Professor McGonagall said, and handed Hermione the Time Turner.

The girl stared at it in awe and fascination. On the thin gold chain hung a small and delicate hourglass, intricate patterns twisting all over the gold and catching the light. It was beautiful.

"I suggest that you wear it around your neck at all times," Professor McGonagall said, walking over to the door and waiting for Hermione to slip the chain around her neck and under her robes. "It will be very hard to misplace that way. Come, Miss Granger, it is time that we returned to the Feast."

Hermione followed her out of the office, unable to keep a massive smile off of her cheeks even though Harry gave her a curious sideways glance. She couldn't wait to see what this year had in store.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Thanks for reading, and please review!

FL7


End file.
